Keeping up the pressure on Delhi’s civic agencies, the AAP began sending a fresh set of photographs of garbage, visibly strewn around, to the municipal corporations of Delhi.

The initiative was taken up by the party after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a nationwide cleanliness campaign.

A senior party spokesperson said, “The AAP has started sending photographs of garbage in different parts of Delhi to the three municipal corporations. We have received more than 10,000 photographs on the AAP helpline number. All photographs were of garbage littered in public areas, with addresses attached. The AAP is clear that a cleanliness campaign will have to be a “sustained effort and mere symbolic gestures may provide photo opportunities for VIPs, but will not solve the problem.”

The AAP claimed that despite the Centre announcing the Abhiyan, the municipal corporations seemed reluctant in “dealing with serious issues”.
“The government is still reluctant to address issues concerning the lives of safai karamcharis, who are the real ambassadors of this campaign. The municipal corporations appear to be indulging more in symbolic and public relation exercises rather than getting down to the serious work,” the party said.

Party leaders admitted that they intended to usurp the “political opportunity” that the campaign had given them. “The broom is our electoral symbol and we have a dedicated volunteer base. The techniques we use for public interaction, such as mass messaging, also lend themselves to a campaign like this. We have instructed our party workers to keep their areas clean and encourage people to report any filth,” a party leader said.